


To Anneal a Vulcan

by Spones-in-my-bones (KoruLunan)



Category: Star Trek, Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: M/M, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-23
Updated: 2015-12-23
Packaged: 2018-05-07 16:59:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,581
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5464118
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KoruLunan/pseuds/Spones-in-my-bones
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Dammit, Jim! I’m telling you these lights are straight enough!” McCoy growled over the communicator.  The doctor sent a slight glare over his shoulder at his friend who was two stories down, using his point of view to make sure the lights were as straight as the doctor was saying.</p><p>“Quite unlike us,” Jim mumbled, but alas no one else was around to enjoy his witty retort. “I’m telling you, Bones, the left side needs to be higher. Just push it up about an inch and it’ll be good.”</p><p>“Oh, I’ll give you an inch alright...” McCoy grumbled as he maneuvered the pole so he was able to rub his hands together for warmth...</p><p>(Academy!Au during the Holidays. Currently pre-spones, but spones is soon to come!)</p>
            </blockquote>





	To Anneal a Vulcan

“Dammit, Jim! I’m telling you these lights are straight enough!” McCoy growled over the communicator.  The doctor sent a slight glare over his shoulder at his friend who was two stories down, using his point of view to make sure the lights were as straight as the doctor was saying.

“ _Quite unlike us,_ ” Jim mumbled, but alas no one else was around to enjoy his witty retort. “I’m telling you, Bones, the left side needs to be higher. Just push it up about an inch and it’ll be good.”

“Oh, I’ll give you an inch alright...” McCoy grumbled as he maneuvered the pole so he was able to rub his hands together for warmth. He despised the cold more than a cold-blooded shark... _Or a Vulcan_ . McCoy would have laughed if he wasn’t already frozen to the bone. Why in the world he agreed to help Jim hang lights on his _balcony_ that was _three stories up_ from the ground _in the freezing cold_ was beyond him. He disliked heights to begin with, though it was nothing he would quite call a fear. Yet.

Regaining his grip on the pole again, McCoy took another step backwards, his back now against the railing, careful not to step on the small patch of ice that Jim had yet to remove from his balcony. That’d be a nasty fall, alright. Adjusting the long pole he was using to hang the lights, he pushed the lights up towards another nail that luckily had already been in place from last year’s Christmas decor.

“You’ve almost got it, Bones. Just a bit more...”

“C’mon... There, got it-Hey!” McCoy jumped as a rush of white flew just past him and splatted against the balcony windows. He whipped around to glare at his friend. “Dammit, Jim! You’re lucky I didn’t slip!”

“Bones, lighten up! It’s winter! You’re _supposed_ have fun in the snow, not be a grump about it!” Jim yelled up to his friend, the communicator seemingly abandoned deep within his pocket.

“I’ll show you _fun_ , alright,” McCoy hastily scraped some remaining snow off a low corner of the balcony, not caring that his feet were getting entangled in the spare rope lights. In fact, their entangling irritating him more. He quickly compacted the snow into a ball and, reeling his arm back as much as he could, launched a snowball towards his friend.

...Which landed just a few feet short of Jim.

The Christmas lights around McCoy’s feet and the patch of ice below him seemed determined to take the rest of McCoy with his hefty throw.

“Woah, hey!” McCoy exclaimed. His hands, which had caught the railing as he fell over, promptly slipped from its icy surface and sent him barrelling headfirst towards the blankets of snow below. But not without his knee first taking nice, hard whack against the concrete balcony edge. As soon as he started falling, he had stopped. The light rope was holding his legs, leaving him dangling just out of reach of the balcony above and below him.

“Hang tight, Bones! I’m coming up!” Jim yelled as he frantically raced inside the apartment complex, trying to get back to his apartment as fast as he could.

McCoy attempted to reach up to his feet to at least unfasten the rope, but discovered the newfound pain in his right knee a barrier that would be a literal pain to pass. The light rope jolted, and McCoy could just barely see the braid itself stretching and breaking one by one. Knowing in no time that he would fall if he didn't find something secure to hold onto, he reached up in an attempt to go past his feet and get ahold of the upper balcony’s edge until Jim would appear.

If that didn't’ work, he could attempt to swing onto the lower balcony. Deciding to try the former, McCoy’s knee screamed as he reached up, but it wasn’t  as painful as it would be if he fell farther.

Apparently the rope disagreed with his plan, as before Bones could grab much of anything, it snapped.

He fell a lot faster and a lot softer than he imagined he would, some odd force seeming to pull him more sideways than downwards, but he could hear the distinctive cracking of something that he was sure was now broken. Only, aside from his knee, he didn't feel much pain.

Surprisingly, he felt a rush of warm air around him, and a heavy weight on top of him that lifted as soon as he noticed it was there. He had squeezed his eyes shut instinctively, but through his sealed eyelids he could now sense a muted light source.

“Doctor?”

McCoy’s eyes shot open and he saw the face hovering above him, immediately recognizing it as Spock’s. He sat up and, looking around, he recognized that he was in an apartment, but was clueless as to whose until he spotted the various plaques in Vulcan script on the wall. Thinking back, Jim had actually mentioned once or twice that Spock lived below him.

“Are you injured, doctor?” Spock inquired, drawing McCoy’s attention back to the Vulcan.

“Ah, no-” McCoy shifted his right leg and flinched slightly at the pain. “Except for my knee.” The pain wasn’t unbearable, but it was very prominent and focused on the outer side of his knee. It was probably a mild sprain, but he’d find out for sure when he stood up.

McCoy paused and looked at his arms and moved his body slightly, confused. He thought he _did_ have at least a break somewhere. “I could have sworn I heard-” He turned to look where he was lying and saw broken shards of glass, and further movement revealed that McCoy had landed on a vase that had shattered when it broke his and Spock’s fall.

“Doctor?”

“Ah, I’ll be fine, Spock.” McCoy waved a hand in dismissal. “Your vase, however... It seems that it broke our fall.”

Spock tilted his head in confusion and stood up to take a look behind the doctor, where sat broken shards of an ornate and colorful glass bowl. McCoy saw something pass over Spock’s face. For a moment-just a split second-he could see... Shock.

“I’m sorry, Spock.” McCoy blurted out, feeling guilty. It seemed that Spock had had some attachment to that item. “I’ll replace it for you-”

“There is no need.” Spock stated simply, and left it at that. He moved over to shut the sliding balcony door. “If you would take off your coat, doctor. Some of the glass from the vase seems to have dug into it.” McCoy decided not to press the topic or the fact that Spock seemed to be even more formal than usual, and simply obliged by Spock’s request. The Vulcan set the coat on the table and moved back to the doctor, grabbing the man’s elbow, ready to help him up. “Are you able to stand?”

“Yeah, pretty sure my knee’s sprained, though. I’m not sure how bad but I guess I’ll find out.” McCoy held his breath as Spock helped him up, the pain making him unable to stand fully, but at least he could put his foot down on the ground. “Awh, hell. This’ll have me out for at least a day or two,” he grumbled as Spock guided him over to the couch to sit.

McCoy gently rolled up his pants leg and observed his left knee, moving it slightly to check just how much motion he had. It had already started to swell, and was turning the usual bruising colors as well. If he could move it as much as he is though, that means it’s probably the lower end of a grade II sprain. “Well, unless you have crutches I can borrow so I can somehow get to a car, we need to call EMTs to take care of this. Honestly, I’d prefer the car-”

“Bones!” Jim burst through the front door of the apartment and straight into the living room. “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine, Jim.” Bones waved off as his friend rushed over. “Thanks to Spock here, I escaped with just a sprained knee. I do need medical attention besides my own, but it’s not life or limb-threatening.”

“Ambulance?”

“I’d prefer not to.”

“Alright. I’ll go bring my car around and we can go. Spock?” Jim said as he turned towards the Vulcan. “Do you mind helping him out to the car?”

Spock nodded and stood up, Jim smiling his thanks. “Alright, I’ll meet you two out front.” He said before taking off.

“Well,” McCoy began as he rolled down his pants leg and looked to Spock. “I s’pose by the time we get there, he’ll be ready, so we might as well go now.”

“A logical assumption.”

McCoy rolled his eyes at the use of the word, but at least Spock seemed to be less... tense. Speaking of... “Are you alright, Spock? I didn’t notice anything really odd with you, but-”

“You presumed right. I am fine, Doctor.”

McCoy gave Spock a quick once over as the Vulcan stood up and pulled McCoy up with him. “Yeah, well, anything comes up and you let me know.”

Spock positioned an arm around the doctor’s waist, and the other holding the man’s arm that is draped around his neck for support. “I highly recommend addressing your own injuries before attempting to tend to those of others, doctor.”

McCoy snorted. “Not a chance.”


End file.
